Thanks to Nesrine Malik for her calm elucidation of the smokescreen that obscures the real fractures of British society (The coronation pulled a screen across a desperate, polarised nation – just as intended, 8 May). Over the past few weeks I have felt bludgeoned into enthusiasm for the absurd ritual of the coronation. There have been times when I have questioned myself. Am I a killjoy? Do I not recognise the lengths that the royals have gone to modernise the monarchy and present its support for a more inclusive society? Look at all the laudable people who profess allegiance.
Nesrine puts her finger on the phenomenon. It’s not much fun feeling out in the cold – witness Prince Harry relegated to the third row at the Abbey – and it’s salutary to remember John Galbraith’s maxim that it’s safer to be wrong with the crowd rather than right by yourself. That’s why we need good journalism and rational argument.
Maria Goulding
Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
• Your editorial (The Guardian view on the coronation of Charles III: a dated pageant that should be rethought, 4 May) downplayed or omitted several benefits of the coronation. First, it provided the country with a moment not only of celebration but also of reflection about its past, present and future. As the constitutional expert Prof Vernon Bogdanor has pointed out, the monarchy is unique in its “position to interpret the nation to itself”. Second, it enabled the UK to project its soft power globally. At the Westminster Abbey service, 203 countries were represented, including presidents, prime ministers and foreign royalty, while the global media and public interest was enormous.
Finally, the celebrations included community-enhancing events, namely the Big Lunch on Sunday and the volunteering-led Big Help Out on Monday. This will have built neighbourliness and civic pride. In their 1953 essay The Meaning of the Coronation, Michael Young and Edward Shils highlighted the collective experience of the Queen’s coronation. They described it as a “communion” whereby a country “reaffirms the moral values which constitute it as a society”. The coronation was a special opportunity to celebrate our country and to strengthen community cohesion.
Zaki Cooper
London
• I would like to share my views on the disruption and cost of the king’s coronation. My friends and I had our Sats delayed – along with every other year 6 pupil living in England – due to the bank holiday on Monday. Did anybody consider the thousands of children whose anxiety would worsen with the interruption?
Furthermore, I would like to address the amount of money that was used for what was predominantly a party. I have read that up to £100m was spent on the coronation. All that money could have been given to food banks across the UK; each would have received about £40,000. Would that not have been a better way to celebrate our new king?
Jen Watkinson (age 11)
Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham
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